Alyson Bailes

Alyson Judith Kirtley Bailes CMG (6 April 1949 – 29 April 2016) was a British diplomat, political scientist, academic and polymath.

Early life Bailes was born on 6 April 1949 in Withington, Manchester. She was the eldest of three children of Barbara (née Martin) and John Lloyd Bailes, both of whom were teachers. She attended The Belvedere School

Career Bailes joined the London Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1969 as a desk officer for the Western European Department, and in 1970 received her first international posting as a desk officer at the British Embassy in Budapest. She went on to speak at a press conference about the incident at the British embassy, then resumed her planned programme of meetings;

From 2007 to 2015 she was an assistant professor at the University of Iceland. She was a visiting professor at the College of Europe from 2010 to 2015. and a fellow of the Scottish Global Forum think tank. In addition she was a visiting professor to the College of Europe, teaching a course in New Security Challenges and Security Governance.

Works "Europe's Defense Challenge: Reinventing the Atlantic Alliance" (January-February 1997), foreignaffairs.com; accessed 4 May 2016. "Iceland: The Dorothy Dunnett Guide", dunnettcentral.org, September 2013; accessed 4 May 2016.